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Jakarta, August 12th , 2021. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia (Kominfo) stated that PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) passed the Operational Feasibility Test (ULO) to deploy 5G networks in Indonesia. The 5G ULO pass was stated in the Operational Eligibility Certificate (SKLO) received by XL Axiata management on Thursday (12/8). The Minister of Communications and Informatics, Johnny G Plate and the President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, Dian Siswarini were present at the event which took place at the Office of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. The receipt of this SKLO also completes a series of celebrations for XL Axiata entering the age of 25 in an effort to Build Digital Indonesia.

Minister of Communications and Informatics Johnny G Plate said, "Today, we together welcome PT XL Axiata Tbk which has just received Operation Eligibility Certificate (SKLO) for 5G services on August 6, 2021, after conducting an Operation Feasibility Test (ULO) on August 3-5 2021 at area of Jl. Margonda, Depok City. Thus, 5G commercial services are now supported by three national telecommunication operators and in the future, we must of course maintain that 5G commercialization can develop well in Indonesia.”

The Minister of Communications and Informatics added that the issuance of the 5G Network Service SKLO of PT XL Axiata, Tbk was carried out in accordance with the mandate of Article 4 of the Minister of Communications and Informatics Regulation Number 5 of 2021 concerning Telecommunications Operations. Through the issuance of the 5G Service SKLO, network services, as well as all 5G facilities and infrastructure that have been completed by PT XL Axiata, Tbk, are technically declared ready to operate. This 5G network service will be carried out on a frequency band of 1800 MHz or 1.8 GHz, with a bandwidth of 20 MHz in the range of 1807.5 MHz to 1827.5 MHz.

According to the Minister of Communications and Informatics, the existence of a third cellular operator that provides 5G network services shows that the industry of 5G network services provision can develop commercially well in Indonesia. This good achievement certainly cannot be separated from the policy facilitation contained in Law no. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation which includes policies, among others, (1) active and passive infrastructure sharing; (2) spectrum sharing; and (3) regulation of the coexistence of Over The Top (OTT) services with conventional multimedia services.

XL Axiata President Director & CEO Dian Siswarini said, "XL Axiata supports the government in accelerating the implementation of 5G technology in Indonesia, in line with the spirit to continue to innovate and always be adaptive to every development of telecommunication technology globally. Therefore, after long ago we made various preparations for the deployment of a 5G network, then around the end of July 2021, we submitted an application for 5G ULO to the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. The 5G ULO process has been running according to our planned schedule, for three days, 3 – 5 August 2021 and is located in Depok City, to be precise in some areas of Jalan Margonda Raya.

Dian added, after passing 5G ULO, XL Axiata is ready to deploy 5G networks and services in Indonesia, including gradually expanding its service area coverage. For the initial stage, XL Axiata's 5G network is available in four cities, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Surabaya, with limited area coverage starting mid-August 2021. In addition, XL Axiata will also accelerate the preparation of the required ecosystem, including the provision of adequate infrastructure. among others, through network fiberization in all operating areas, collaborating with device providers in providing 5G smartphone devices to make it easy for customers and the public to get, provision of human resources, to education to increase public understanding of the benefits of 5G technology to support daily life.

In the 5G ULO process, the test scenarios carried out include device verification, basic telephony (call/sms) and internet access, bandwidth and load tests, network monitoring, and the availability of information center. The test parameters used during 5G ULO include the availability of information center, 5G network quality, percentage of drop calls/blocked calls, CSSR (Call Setup Success Rate) percentage, and DL (Downlink) and UL (Uplink) throughput.

With the issuance of the SKLO, technically all the infrastructure that XL Axiata has built to deploy the 5G network is ready to operate. In order to deploy this 5G service, XL Axiata applies Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology on the 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz spectrum. This technology allows the use of the same spectrum for 4G and 5G services, and in its application XL Axiata will ensure the convenience of 4G and 5G users. DSS implementation is an alternative choice considering the limited frequency that XL Axiata has to deploy 5G.

Technologically and network-wise, XL Axiata has made various preparations to roll out a 5G network. From the radio side, implementing modernization of radio network devices to accelerate 5G adoption. On the transport network side, the fiber optic backbone network and fiberization continue to be expanded to cover all areas of XL Axiata's operations and services.

On the core side, XL Axiata has carried out network and IT convergence by implementing Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) technology and also ensuring the readiness of the VoLTE network that provides telephony services on the 4G network as part of the evolution towards 5G. In addition to preparations on the network side, XL axiata has also carried out a series of 5G use case trials that have been started since 2017 until now, namely 5G outdoor, 5G eMBB, smart city, and holograms, as well as testing some spectrum for 5G networks such as millimeter wave.

Currently, XL Axiata has more than 56 million subscribers, supported by more than 156 thousand BTS, including more than 65 thousand 4G BTS. XL Axiata's 4G LTE network also continues to be expanded, and currently it has reached 458 cities/regencies in various regions in Indonesia. XL Axiata also continues to invest in fiber networks, transmission, backhaul, network modernization, and various other network upgrades to improve stability, network capacity, and data service quality in line with the continued increase in data service traffic.